That Very First Date
by animeheart8
Summary: After Voldemort's defeat, everything is well again, and the trio plus Ginny decide to have a date night. Harry and Ginny remain at the Burrow, while Hermione takes Ron on a date to part of the muggle world.


That Very First Date

Something crashed upstairs. A pair of shoes, tied together, rolled clumsily down the rickety stairs of the Burrow. When they reached the bottom, they straightened themselves up again and began making their way back up.

There was another crash and a loud "Ow!" from upstairs. Harry stood up from the couch he was sitting on and headed up the stairs until he had reached the top. The door was partially open, so he pushed it all the way.

The room was a mess! Clothing littered the ground and objects such as a rememberall and _Quidditch Through the Ages_ had fallen off the shelf, taking down other items with them. The shoes had caught up to Harry and rushed past him into the bedroom. "My God, Ron!" Harry exclaimed. "What are you _doing_ in here?"

"I don't know what to wear!" Ron cried, throwing up his arms in frustration. "You heard her! 'Just wear something nice,' she says! Like what!? I'm not wearing those bloody dress robes!" he added, pointing at his dresser. Harry assumed that's where he was keeping them.

"Well, what are you two going to do?"

"Go see some muggle play and go out to eat. You don't think she'll make me pay, do you?" his frustration turned to horror on his face. "I haven't got any muggle money!"

"Calm _down_, Ron!" Harry sighed. He walked over to what he figured must be the bed and held up a white dress shirt. "Wear this and some black pants. That should be good enough." He tossed the shirt to Ron, who caught it clumsily.

"What if she doesn't like it? She's scary when she's angry!" he pointed out, his voice cracking into a whimper.

"She'll love it, Ron."

"Easy for you to say!" He turned around, shirt and pants in hand, and began to change. Harry looked away, not particularly fond of the idea of watching Ron change. "So what are you two doing then?"

"What?"

"You and Ginny. You guys are doing something tonight, aren't you? Alright, how does this look?" he added. Harry turned to look.

"It looks great!" Ron sighed with relief. "Yeah, she's cooking dinner for me," Harry added to answer his friend's other question. "What play are you going to see?"

"_McSeth_ or something."

Harry laughed. "You mean 'MacBeth'?"

"Yeah, that thing. By Billiam Shaky or whatever."

"William Shakespeare?"

"Yeah, him. How do you know so much about this play?!"

"It's famous. I was raised by muggles, remember?"

"Oh… right. Forgot."

"Ron!" called a new voice. He went pale and nervously looked at the bedroom door. "Are you ready yet?"

Harry, seeing the terrified look on Ron's face, answered for him. "Yeah, he's ready! He'll be down in a minute!"

"Tell him to hurry up! We're going to be late!"

Harry turned to Ron. "She says to hurry up – you're going to be late."

"I know, I know!" he snapped in response, grabbing his wand and putting it in his pocket. "I heard her!" Harry grinned as he followed Ron down the stairs.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Hermione asked, coming around the corner as the two boys reached the bottom of the stairs. Her hair had been curled more, and she wore the red dress she had worn at Bill and Fleur's wedding.

"Uh, er, y-yeah," Ron replied, his voice shaking. "I'm alright." Harry laughed to himself. Ron certainly didn't _look_ alright.

"Are you ready, then?"

Ron nodded hesitantly. "Yeah." He looked at harry pleadingly, but his friend just smiled innocently and waved. Hermione waved back and grabbed Ron's hand. One second, and they were twisting and turning through the air. Another, and they had landed clumsily in an alley, bright lights on either side. They straightened themselves out, and Ron followed Hermione nervously to one side of the alley where they joined the large crowd of muggles going down the street.

"Hermione, you know where we're going, right?"

"Nope."

"'Nope'!? What do you mean, 'nope'!?"

"Oh, I'm just kidding, Ronald!" she said with a laugh. "Lighten up!"

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!" She stopped and turned to him.

"You're just nervous, aren't you, Ron?" she asked mockingly. He went red in the face.

"I'm not nervous!" he blurted out without thinking. Hermione crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. "I, I just… well, I don't know!" She grabbed his arm.

"Oh, let's just go. We can't be late for the play." She hurried off into the crowd, dragging the flustered Ron with her.

They arrived panting at a large theater with a giant crowd in front of it. Ron suddenly felt restless with all the muggles around. He reflectively grabbed Hermione's hand. She pretended not to notice and reached into her charmed bag, pulling out two tickets a few moments later. She dragged Ron into the massive line-up in front of the theater. It moved too slowly for Ron to bear. Slower than molasses. It felt like hours before Hermione was able to give the tickets to a muggle and they were finally let in.

The theater was significantly darker than outside. Ron wished he had thought to bring his deluminator so he could turn on some lights, even though Hermione wouldn't have let him use it anyway.

She led him into the showroom, and found their seats. Ron sat down awkwardly beside her, quickly thinking of what he should do. He knew there was a good twenty minutes before the play would start, and he couldn't just sit there doing nothing.

_Should I talk about the weather? Nah, too corny. I could ask her what the play's about! No, wait, she would just tell me to wait and watch. How about…_

"How's S.P.E.W. going?"

Hermione turned to look at him. He froze, realizing what he had just asked. Her eyes lit up, and she began her speech.

"It's going great! Well, kind of. …Dobby's really into that idea, but Kreacher just started calling me 'mudblood' when I asked. …No one at the Ministry has joined yet, but I'm sure someone will…"

Twenty grueling minutes of listening to her go on about S.P.E.W. later and the play finally started. Ron sighed with relief and leaned back in his chair to watch.

"That was so _depressing_!"

Hermione laughed. "I told you, Ron, that 'MacBeth' was a tragedy! Did you expect a happy ending?"

He scratched his chin in thought. "Well, no," he replied, "but I didn't think it'd be _that_ sad! I mean, his wife kind of just lost it, didn't she?"

Hermione laughed even harder. "You'd probably lose your mind, too." She started off down the street, so Ron followed cautiously. He still didn't like being around so many muggles. "You like Italian food, right Ron?"

"Oh, yeah, why?"

"Well, we're going to an Italian restaurant."

"A-Alright," Ron replied, trying to sound confident. He was still worried that he'd have to pay. Not having any money, he'd have to use the Confundus charm on the staff, and then the Ministry would have a fit. There was bound to be a Ministry witch or wizard in there.

"What's the matter, Ron?" Hermione asked, interrupting his thoughts. He looked down, trying to figure out how to word his worries. "Out with it!"

"W-Well, I wasn't sure how we would pay…"

Hermione sighed. "You didn't honestly expect me to make you pay at a muggle restaurant, did you? I was raised by muggles, Ron – I'm muggle-born! Of course I have muggle money!" Ron let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, I hope we're not late. I made reservations. What time is it?"

Ron looked at his watch. "Twenty to seven."

"Oh no!" Hermione cried. She turned to Ron, suddenly looking frantic. "The reservation's for seven o'clock!"

"So? We've got twenty minutes."

"It's a popular restaurant, Ron! If we're even a few minutes late we'll lose our table!"

"Well, where is it?"

"Dean Street. It's down this way." She grabbed his arm and ran down the street. Ron felt his face grow hot with embarrassment as on looking muggles watched them with confused eyes. It probably _did_ look strange, since no one else seemed rush.

After a few minutes of running, the two stopped, laughing, in front of a brightly lit building. They stood there, still laughing about nothing in particular. Perhaps it was their adrenaline, or maybe it was because of the nightgown-wearing wizard they had seen being asked as kindly as possible to put on some pants. Either way, it took them a moment to regain themselves. Ron was the first to stop laughing, and took a moment to observe his surroundings. He looked at the building they were in front of, first. The sign above it, in fancy but readable letters, read 'Polpetto.' He stared at it, wondering what it meant.

"Hermi-"

"I don't know what it means, Ron," she said as if she could read his thoughts. "It's just a name. This is where we're eating!"

Ron gaped. "Here!?" he exclaimed.

"That's right! My parents said it was great," she added reassuringly. She took his hand and walked inside. "Come on. No good just standing out here."

Ron followed, taking in his surroundings with wide eyes. This was a very, _very_ fancy restaurant. Had to be expensive, too. The lighting was arranged and dimmed to look like candlelight, and some tables _did_ have candles on them. There were arrangements of booths and tables, and a bar at the far end. Marble covered the floor and the reception desk, where a young muggle girl was taking people's names and directing them to either a table or to a seat in the lobby. Hermione led him to the desk, and gave her name, although Ron barely caught what the two were saying to each other. After a few minutes, they were directed to a waiter who led them to a small booth near the kitchens and handed menus. Ron opened his and stared at it blankly, without saying a word. His surroundings alone were still mesmerizing him.

"Ron, are you listening?"

He snapped his head up to look at Hermione, who was eyeing him with a confused look on her face. He swallowed slowly, unsure of what to say. "S-Sorry, what was that?"

Hermione sighed. "I asked you what you wanted to order, Ronald."

"Uh, well, I don't know… Whatever you're having, I guess."

"So a vegetarian four-cheese lasagna?"

Ron thought for a moment about that. "Maybe one that isn't vegetarian?"

Hermione nodded and turned to the waiter beside her and placed the orders. Ron went completely red in the face. He hadn't realized that the waiter was still there.

"I-I need to use the lieu," he announced once the waiter had left. "Where is it?"

Hermione pointed to a door beside the kitchen. "Over there."

Ron nodded his thanks and hastily made his way to the washroom. Once in there, he looked around to make sure no one was there, and pulled out his wand. "_Expecto Patronum_!" he said quietly, watching as a Jack Russel Terrier appeared happily beside him. "Tell Harry, 'I don't know what to do! I'm at the restaurant.'" The patronus barked and ran off in the direction of the Burrow. Ron leaned against the wall as he waited, praying that no one would come in until after he had received Harry's reply. A long minute later, a stag appeared where the terrier had been earlier.

"_Start a conversation with her_," it said quickly before vanishing. Before Ron could leave, however, a horse appeared in front of him.

"_Give her some flowers after_," said the soft voice of Ginny. Ron slapped his hand to his face. He had forgotten that Harry was with Ginny. The horse vanished just as quickly as the stag had. Ron left the washroom and returned to the table.

"You took a while," Hermione commented as he sat back down at the table. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

It took a few minutes, but soon the two had gotten into a good discussion about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and how the business was going for George with Ron's help. The conversation moved into Hermione's work at the Ministry (to Ron's relief, they didn't revisit the subject of S.P.E.W.) when their food arrived. Hermione had to stop Ron from talking on a few occasions, complaining about his talking with his mouth full.

As the night went on, Ron grew more and more confident in himself around Hermione. He didn't feel as nervous now that they were talking like they used to at Hogwarts. The only thing missing was Harry, going on about Draco Malfoy being up to something for the billionth time.

Although it took a good two hours, it felt like they had only been in the restaurant for a few minutes. They walked outside, where the streets were less crowded and the air had gotten a bit cooler. The two shivered, and huddled next to each other for warmth as they made their way towards an alley so they could disapperate back to the Burrow. One second, and they were twisting and turning through the air. Another, and they had landed in the field just outside the Burrow. There were still a few lights on, indicating that people were still awake. Ron stole a glance at his watch. Quarter to twelve. _Orchideous!_ he thought, flicking his wand while Hermione's back was turned. A pretty bouquet of red and white flowers appeared in his hand, and he coughed nervously as he put his wand away again.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, turning around. She gasped as her eyes fell on the flowers.

"T-These are for you…" Ron said, his ears turning red. She took them gratefully.

"Oh, Ron! They're beautiful! Thank you!"

"It was no-"

He was stopped when warm lips met his. Hermione wrapped her arms around him as she kissed him, and he nervously did the same. He closed his eyes as they kissed and embraced, his heart pounding.

"I love you, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed when she released him. He smiled anxiously.

"I love you too, Hermione."


End file.
